


avatar stories collection

by avatarstories



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Gen, team avatar kids!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25500475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatarstories/pseuds/avatarstories
Summary: the stories of the members of team avatar certainly did not end with the war. there would be peace to maintain and healing to work towards. this is a collection of stories, all out of order, but that will weave together to continue the lives of the avatar: the last airbender characters. There will also be a few flashbacks to moments in the timeline of the series that were not included. I'll also include some stories of the team avatar kids growing up and learning from their parents' legacies.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Izumi (Avatar), Bumi II/Izumi (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	1. izumi's lessons

“Straighter, Izumi. If the movement is not sharp, you will not be able to control the trajectory of the flame. And, you need to get higher to control the size of the flame. Run through the last part of sequence again, and remember your breath through each form as well,” Azula says analyzing the princess’s moves. Izumi huffs. Azula raises an eyebrow, daring Izumi to talk back. Izumi centers herself with a deep inhale and repeats the movement, first punching downwards with an exhale. Azula smiles ever so slightly when she sees Izumi use the power of the downwards flames to propel herself higher, and with an audible exhale she delivers the final kicking blow with a stronger and more controlled flame. Izumi pauses in the final stance before standing straight to await her aunt’s critiques. 

“Well done, Izumi,” Azula says, with the slightest bit a cheerful lilt in her voice. “Your breathing was excellent, and you were smart to use the first movement to propel yourself. That fluidity as you move between your forms will make your bending more powerful without sacrificing your control.” Izumi smiles at the hint of pride she hears in Azula’s tone. 

Izumi bows shortly, her tiny hands forming a flame in the traditional Fire Nation style. “Thank you, Sifu Azula,” she says as she stands up. 

Azula smiles. “Anytime, Princess Izumi,” she says returning the bow. “You did very well today. We’ll have lots to show your father when he gets back from Republic City.” 

Izumi looked just like her mother, Azula remarks as the princess straightened from her bow, almost as if Izumi was her spirit. Though, Izumi had the molten amber eyes of her father. Azula often looked at Izumi and was taken back to what she wished were innocent memories of playing with her friends, though she knew she had not been innocent since the day her own father realized how talented she was. If only her talent had been her own then as it was now. She promised herself that as she trained Izumi, she would never take any of Izumi’s natural abilities for herself. She would fiercely protect Izumi’s innocence and independence. Izumi would be girl, not a weapon. She is Azula’s constant exercise in redemption. 

Hana and Riku, two members of the staff arrive with a platter of fruit and glasses of water. Azula takes a glass of water with a polite nod to Riku and Hana. Izumi looks unsure of what fruit to pick. “The apples are especially good today, your highness,” Riku whispers to Izumi. “I made sure to keep them in the cold storage so they would be crisp the way you like them.” Izumi smiles at him and takes a gleaming apple from the platter. When Azula was little, the staff would maintain perfection out of fear, but for Izumi they did it out of love.

“Thank you, Riku,” she says politely. 

Azula watches. Izumi was not like her, she thinks to herself. Izumi was quiet and thoughtful, pensive even, though she had a mischievous streak most likely instilled in her by Kiyi and Iroh. She was not malicious and competitive as Azula had been at her age. If Izumi had a sibling, they’d be friends, unlike her and Zuko had been as children. 

“Azu,” she says swallowing, “Do you know when Aunt Katara is arriving?” 

“I am not sure, Princess. I did not know she was coming,” Azula responds. 

“I overheard one of the staff members saying earlier today that they got orders to set up rooms for Aunt Katara,” Izumi explains. “I hope she’s coming to stay for a long time,” she says taking another bite. 

“Well, she has Bumi and Kya to take care of, so she cannot come as much as she used to,” Azula explains to the princess. A memory from a few years after the war when Katara was staying in the Fire Nation crosses Azula’s mind. 

_“I don’t forgive easily” Katara said when she realized Azula was watching her bend the pond water in the moonlight. “Especially not someone who’s tried to kill two of my best friends.”_

_“I would not expect anything else from you,” Azula replied meekly. “I have done nothing to earn your forgiveness, let alone my brother’s.”_

_Katara turned at that. Azula looked small, almost frail. She knew Azula had just turned 17, but she looked more like a small child than young woman._

_“Can you control the tides?” Azula asks after a moment._

_Katara pulls the entire pond into a wall of water, suspends it, and then lowers it back into the pond. Azula nods, her question answered._

_“Zuko told me your bending is weak,” Katara says not wanting Azula to just sit and stare at her in silence._

_“Yes, ever since the agni kai… I am not as strong as I used to be,” Azula says. “I can barely produce sparks.”_

_“You don’t deserve your element,” Katara says as she turns back to the pond. “If you can’t control your power, then you shouldn’t have it.”_

_Azula watches Katara move through stances as fluidly as her element before another question strikes her. “You are a master of your element as I once was. Do you have power like that?” Azula asks._

_“Like what?” Katara responds._

_“One you think you should not have.”_

_Katara drops the water she was bending into the pond. “Yes,” she sighs. She turns to look at Azula over her shoulder. “But I don’t use it anymore. I wouldn’t even use it on you, and trust me, I’ve had plenty of reason to.” She turns back to the pond._

_Azula is quiet, pensive. “May I watch you?” she asks after a moment. “Zuko said there’s lessons to be learned from the other elements.”_

_“Sure, Azula,” Katara responds somewhat dismissively. Azula sits on the cool grass and loses track of time as Katara bends in the moonlight._

“Azu,” Izumi says, pulling Azula out of her memory, “it is true that Aunt Katara used to live here?” 

“Yes,” Azula answers. “She did because she used to be the ambassador from the Southern Water Tribe. And she was here when you were a baby because you were very sick when you were born. Master Katara is one of the best healers in the world,” Azula explains, the image of her brother writhing in pain and convulsing from her lightning on the courtyard floor flashes across her mind’s eye with her words. “Did you overhear if we’ll be having any other guests?” 

“No, I only heard about Aunt Katara,” Izumi responds taking another bite of her apple. “Though hopefully Bumi and Kya come too!” 

“I don’t know, Izumi, I think you’re mischievous enough for all of us. It’ll get a bit crazy with Bumi and Kya running around here too,” Kiyi says as she walks into the courtyard from the entrance behind where Azula and Izumi were standing. 

“Kiyi!!” Izumi shouts excitedly. She drops her apple and runs at a full sprint for her young aunt. She’s nearly knocked over by the little princess. 

“Don’t let her Grace see you acting with such lack of decorum, Zumi,” Kiyi jokes as she rights herself from Izumi’s hug. “Hi Azu,” she greets warmly as Azula walks over to meet them. Kiyi breaks away from Izumi to wrap her older sister in a hug. “But seriously Zumi, don’t get me in trouble with your grandmother, who’s my mother, for teaching you bad manners,” she says over Azula’s shoulder. “I’ll never hear the end of it!” 

“Good to finally see you,” Azula says as she pulls way. 

“Where’s Dad?” Izumi asks looking behind them. “Azu has been training me in a lot of forms and I want to show him what I’ve learned!” 

“He’s still in Republic City, Princess.” Kiyi says knelling down to her level when she sees Izumi’s disappointed pout. “But I can assure you, he is bringing back some wonderful surprises for you. In fact, he sent me back early with one and it is in your bedroom right now.” 

Izumi smiles. She turns to Azula, “May I be dismissed from lessons Sifu Azula?” she asks. 

“Run along, Zumi,” Azula says. Izumi walks excitedly down towards her apartments on the north side of the palace. 

“Excuse me, your highnesses, may I bring you any refreshments, tea perhaps?” Hana asks Azula and Kiyi. 

“In the garden would be lovely,” Kiyi says. “Thank you, Hana.” 

“Yes, thank you Hana,” Azula adds. 

“Of course your highnesses,” Hana says with a bow. “It will be ready shortly.” Hana leaves them to go prepare the tea. 

Kiyi offers an arm to Azula, “Come, let’s go the garden. I’d love to see some flowers. Republic City is so…building-y.” 

“Building-y?” Azula asks jokingly, linking her arm with Kiyi’s. 

“What? It is! You’ve seen it. There’s only one park and it’s not even close to the Fire Nation Embassy!” 

“Cool as you try to be, Zuko’s awkwardness has rubbed off on you,” Azula replies with the same playful tone. 

“Agni, please no,” Kiyi groans. “It took him so long to stop being such a complete dork.” 

Azula laughs, more deeply than she has in a long time, and she is grateful to have a family that can make her do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little info to know for this and later chapters...
> 
> In this chapter, Izumi is still young enough that Tenzin has not been born. So she's about 6 or 7. 
> 
> I assume that because the show is a year long, team avatar had birthdays somewhere in there, when Zuko is crowned then...  
> Zuko is approx 17; Sokka, Suki, and Mai are approx 16; Katara , Azula, and Ty Lee are approx 15; Aang and Toph are approx 13. 
> 
> The order of the team avatar kids births: Bumi, Izumi, Kya, Lin, Tenzin, Suyin. 
> 
> Bumi is born 12 years post war. (Katara is 27 and Aang is 25)  
> Izumi is born 14 years post war. (Zuko is 31 and Mai is 30)  
> Kya is born 15 years post war. (Katara is 30 and Aang is 28)  
> Lin is born 15 years post war. (Toph is 28)  
> Tenzin is born 21 years post war. (Katara is 36 and Aang is 34).  
> Suyin is born 22 years post war. (Toph is 35).


	2. on the way back from the southern raiders

Zuko had taken over steering Appa as they made their way back to their friends. Katara was on her back eyes fixed on the moon above her. It was silent between them, but Zuko could tell by her uneven breathing that while she was quiet, she was anything but calm.

“Zuko…?” she says, breaking the silence between them without taking her gaze from the moon and stars.

He looks back at her. “Yes, Katara?”

“Is there any way we can stop before we go back to our friends? I just” she sighs “…I don’t think I can deal with Aang just yet.”

Zuko understood. Aang would be breathing down her neck asking what happened before they could even dismount Appa.

“I know a place,” he says trying to keep his voice soft. He was worried about Katara. He had never seen her so angry and hurt as when she confronted the man who killed her mother. He knew that anger came from pain, and usually left even more pain in its wake. “You’ll like it, there’s a beach so there is-uh-lots of water.” He winces at his attempt to be comforting.

He hears her let out a little puff of air, maybe she was smirking at his effort. “That would be nice…” Silence resumes between them.

It does not take them long to reach the royal family’s abandoned Ember Island estate. When Appa touched down, Katara climbed off swiftly to land on the sand. She looked up the cliff towards the white house that was glowing in the moonlight.

“What is this place?” she asks turning to him as he unpacks a few bags from Appa’s saddle.

“My family’s summer home,” he says evenly.

There is a pause, then “oh.”

Zuko tenses. Maybe it was not the best idea to bring her a home of the fire nation royal family, a group of people that has been directly responsible for the destruction of so many things and people she cherished, to let her have space.

“We have not been here in a long time, at least Ozai has not,” he starts nervously. “I broke in when I was on the island with Azula and Mai and Ty Lee recently…But before that we had not been here since Azula and I were little.” He curses himself for her nervous rambling.

When he looks at Katara, he expects her eyes to be searing into him, but rather he finds her looking at the house sadly.

“I -uh I understand if you do not want to be here given well everything… We could just camp on the beach, or-”

“Zuko, please stop,” she whispers. She tries to keep her voice from sounding too harsh. She picks up one of the packs and walks a short distance. She drops it softly and begins to unpack. Zuko notices her movements are all slow, each one made heavy by sadness.

He sees the rocks from where he, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee had their fire are still there, and leads Appa over to set up their camp. He gathers a few pieces of wood before using his bending to start a fire and sits down next to it. Appa comes and sits right behind him allowing him to lean back against the sky bison’s legs.

With the fire light, Katara tries to put together the frame of her tent but keeps messing up. Zuko watches silently not knowing what to do. He had decided to just sleep on Appa.

“If you are going to sit there and pity me while I’m sad then I’d rather we just go back to my brother, Aang, Toph, and Suki,” Katara says without looking at him. There’s a harshness in her tone.

“I was going to offer to help, but I was waiting to see if you got it.” He avoids the pitying comment.

“Are you not going to build your own tent?” she asks. The harshness in her voice from before is now replaced by a tired sadness.

“I was just going to sleep against Appa,” he responds.

She does not say anything but goes back to trying to set up the frame. When her fingers fumble again she curses.

“Katara, why don’t you just sleep against Appa? It is not going to rain and even if it does you can bend it and we can go into the house for shelter.” Zuko says, his concern coming out as frustration. He expects a snide comment, knowing Katara does not think of him fondly. A bit to his surprise, she rolls up the tent materials back into their pack. The climbs up Appa’s tail and puts them in the saddle before sliding down his side and nestling herself on his middle leg. She curls on her side, facing Zuko but with her head turned so that her gaze is fixed on the fire. Zuko closes his eyes and attempts to fall asleep, but he finds his mind is concerned with what is running through Katara’s. He opens his eyes to find Katara staring at him. When he catches her, she turns her gaze towards the flames.

“What was your mother like?” she asks looking back at him.

He’s surprised by the question. “My mother?”

“Well, I’ve gleaned that your father is terrible,” she quips.

Zuko smirks. She must have been starting to feel a bit better if she could make jokes.

“She was very caring…and protective. She always stood up for me when my father was harsh.” he reminisces looking into the flames. He smiles at the memory that comes to mind. “One time I threw a big piece of bread at a baby turtleduck in the pond in the palace garden and the mother turtleduck came and nipped me on the foot, and my mother told me I should always expect mothers to be protective of their babies.” Katara smiles softly at him.

“What happened to her?” Katara asks after a silent moment.

“She was banished.”

“I’m sorry, Zuko,” Katara offers empathetically.

“Don’t be. Wherever she went, she escaped before it got infinitely more terrible when my father became Fire Lord… plus you shouldn’t be apologizing to me. The Fire Nation took your mother, and for years I helped the Fire Nation do terrible things…but I’m trying to be better.”

He felt a hand on his. He looked down to see Katara was holding his hand and looking intently at his face.

“People like you aren’t the problem, Zuko,” she says softly but firmly. She gives his hand a gentle squeeze. He offers her a tender smile. He is quite taken back, but he does not show it. How she could look at him with all the sincerity of her heart and tell him that, he did not know. 

There is a comfortable silence. Just as he is about to fall asleep, Katara whispers.

“Zuko?”

“Hmmm?”

“Thank you.”

“Goodnight, Katara.”

“Goodnight, Zuko.”

As they slept, their hands were almost touching.


	3. azula's new room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ozai gives Azula a task and title shortly after Zuko's banishment.

“Excuse me, Princess Azula,” one of the staff members says nervously as Azula plays in the garden with Mai and Ty Lee. “His Majesty, Fire Lord Ozai, has commanded you to an audience in the throne room.” 

“I’ll be there straight away,” Azula responds. “Mai, Ty Lee, wait here for me.” 

“Of course Princess Azula,” they say together with a slight bow. 

Azula puts her shoulders back. What had she done in the past few days that demanded an audience with her father, she thought nervously. She had done perfectly in her firebending lessons, she had completed all the assignments from her classes at the Royal Academy, and perhaps most importantly, she had not asked at all about Zuko. She did not even know if Zuko had woken up yet since he had been put on the ship after the Agni Kai with their father. What would he look like the next time she saw him…? She straightens herself again and tightens her hair piece before walking through the curtain into the throne room. 

Upon entering, she kneels immediately, bringing her forehead to the gleaming black stone floor in front of her. 

“Sit up, Azula,” her father commands from behind his wall of fire. 

She waits an extra second before sitting up to ensure she had paid enough respect. She rises to a kneeling position. She holds herself upright and waits quietly for her father to begin speaking. 

“I have a task for you, Azu-,” he begins. 

“It’s my honor to serve you, father. Thank you for the opportunity,” Azula says. 

“I was not finished Azula,” he responds, his voice low and dangerous. “Do not interrupt.” 

She drops her gaze. “I am so sorry, father. Please forgive me,” she pleads without taking her eyes off the reflection of her father’s fire in shining black tiles before her. 

He regards her for a moment before he continues. “With your brother now gone, he cannot serve as the Crown Prince, a title of which he was never actually worthy,” Ozai starts. “As you are aware, your brother was subjected to rigorous strategy and military lessons, at which, as you are also aware, he was a failure. With your brother unable to return until he has captured the Avatar, which based on his previous performance, I do not expect to happen soon, if at all, the title of heir apparent falls to you, my Azula.” 

At that, she looks up. 

“You will be molded into the future Fire Lord,” Ozai continues. He pauses before he speaks again. “You know, Azula, I often see myself in you.” 

"You do, father?” she asks. 

“Yes. When I was growing up, I always had a feeling that fate had played a cruel trick on me. Why should Iroh, who always seemed too soft for our nation’s empire but yet had the favor of our father, have the divine right to rule simply because he was born before I was? Me, the loyal son, me, who would have not abandoned the siege at Ba Sing Se if Zuko had been in Lu Ten’s place. No, it would have been an honor to know that I had raised a son who gave up his life to serve our nation.” He pauses. “Fate dealt you the same hand, Azula. It made you second born to a brother who would never be as powerful as you. And as if to add insult to injury, it made you a girl…Though I believe I have trained any feminine softness out of you in your mother’s absence, have I not?” 

Azula clenches her fists in her lap as she is reminded of being second to Zuko despite being better than him at everything, except of course his sword training, but why would a future Fire Lord rely on swords instead of his bending? She is also reminded of being second in her mother’s love. How could she always be so approving of Zuko when Azula was clearly the better child?… How could she just leave them…She pulls herself back to the present before she can get lost in a sea of thoughts. 

“You have, father,” she says flatly. 

“Good, good,” he responds. “We will have a party to announce your new title. Your friends, of course, are invited. And in the meantime, I have ordered the servants to move your things into Zuko’s old room, as it is the room reserved for the heir apparent. They should be done by the time you leave here, and if they are not,…well, perhaps you will get your first lesson in ruthless leadership.” 

“Very good, father,” she responds. 

“You’re dismissed, Azula.” 

She rises and bows deeply to her father before turning on her heel towards the exit. 

“Azula,” he calls before she reaches the curtain. 

“Yes, father?” she asks turning back to face him. “You should know I expect perfection from you, and nothing less. I would hate to have to be as harsh on you as I was with Zuko,” he says. “I once told your brother that while he was lucky to be born, you were born lucky. But I think you will find that you should never rely on luck alone, Azula.” 

Azula swallows. Despite his being the Fire Lord, her father’s words feel like ice. “Of course, father,” she says with another bow. “I should take it as an honor to be trained by you, and I should receive any punishment you see fit when I do not reach the standard you expect of me.” 

“I am glad you understand, my Azula. Now, as you were,” he waves his hand to dismiss her, and she leaves quietly before he can stop her again. 

After leaving the throne room, Azula finds Mai and Ty Lee in the garden where she left them. 

“Mai, your hair would look soooo pretty in a braid, can you at least let me try?” Ty Lee asks her. 

“No,” Mai says flatly. “Braid your own hair.” 

“Mine’s already braided, silly!” Ty Lee is the first to notice Azula returning. “Azula! How was your audience with the Fire Lord?” 

“My father has named me Crown Princess,” she says. “We’ll be having a party to celebrate my new title, and I’ll be moving into Zuko’s room.” 

“He has barely been gone for week,” Mai mutters. Ty Lee seems to miss her comment, or if she does hear she pretends not to. Azula looks at Mai with a searing glare. 

“And he might never return, Mai,” she says icily. “So you should get used to me being the heir apparent.” 

The slightest bit of aggression in Azula’s tone makes Mai seek to placate any tension. “Of course, Princess Azula. I meant not offense,” she says. “Your father is wise to be so – so efficient in his planning.” 

Azula smirks at that. “I do not have any explicit new duties except, of course, to study and learn from my father’s example,” she replies. _I expect perfection from you, nothing less._

“But come, my new rooms should be ready. Let’s go see them.” Azula turns and does not wait to see if Ty Lee and Mai are following her. She knows she does not have to. 

It is a short walk from the gardens to the wing of the palace where Azula and Zuko’s rooms were. Staff members shuffle out of the door, all relieved to have finished the task of preparing the room on time. There is a collective sigh of relief before they see Azula coming down the corridor and all take bows while she approaches. 

“Your highness,” one of the staff members says, “your new room is prepared. Should anything not be to your liking, it would be our pleasure to fix it for you,” she says somewhat nervously. 

“Should I expect something to not be perfect, then?” she asks. 

“No, your highness, not at all,” the young woman stutters. 

_First lesson in ruthless leadership_. 

“If anything is not up to standard, then I will hold you personably accountable for it. It seems only fair since you were the one to assure me that everything was perfect,” Azula says threateningly. 

“Of course, your highness,” the young woman says quietly, her gaze still fixed on the floor and still leaning into her bow. 

Azula walks past her and the other staff into her new room. It is much larger than her old one. It is luxurious, but unwelcoming. She cannot help but feel that the golden dragon head over the canopy glares down at her. She looks around the room and expects her brother to appear at any moment even though she knows that is an impossibility. She was expecting this to be a triumphant moment, the first time in her new room with the new title of heir apparent. However, the room unsettles her as it does to Mai and Ty Lee. 

“Azula,” Mai says nervously. “You don’t think your father will do to you what he did to Zuko, right?” 

Azula glares at Mai, unsure if she is angrier at the suggestion being made or her fear being confirmed. Her gaze falls to her hands, and she produces little flames. _You should never rely on luck alone, Azula._ “He will not have a reason to,” she says watching the flames dance. 

She forms her hands into fists extinguishing the flames. “Let’s go back, outside,” Azula says. “I should practice my bending.” She turns and leads them out of the room quickly. She does not want to think about Zuko, and how excited she was to see his punishment, and how scared she is now that her first line of defense is gone. 

That evening Azula prolongs her dinner as long as she can. She does not want to feel the weight of the glare of the dragon head on the bed canopy on her shoulders. 

“I believe it is time for you to retire, Azula,” her father says as he finishes his wine. He signals for the staff to bring him more. 

“May I stay up a while more?” she asks. He takes a drink of his wine. 

“Is there a reason why you are not tired, Azula?” he asks. 

“No,” she responds. 

“So then why are you trying to go against my command? Leave the table and retire for the evening so that I can finish my wine in peace,” he says, the slightest tone of aggression making his words feel like a threat to Azula. 

“May I be dismissed?” she whispers. 

“I believe I made it clear enough that you should leave the table and go to your new quarters,” he says menacingly. 

Azula is silent as she slides off her chair. She holds her hands in the shape of a little flame before bowing to her father. “Goodnight, father,” she says as she stands up. She waits a second expecting him to reply, but when she looks at him he just raises an eyebrow as if to ask why she is still in front of him. She turns on her heel and leaves the dining room.

A short while later a servant has brushed her hair out and Azula dresses in her night clothes. She climbs into the bed. Its massive size swallows her. She keeps a candle lit on her bedside table, and with its light she stares at the embroidery on the canopy above her. She thinks of Zuko staring at the same golden threads as he tried to sleep as well. He always had a hard time sleeping. She remembers waking up to Zuko screaming in the middle of the night on multiple occasions. _I would hate to have to be as harsh on you as I was with Zuko_. Now she understands why. Children are not supposed to be scared of their fathers like this. 

Azula does not sleep well that night. She cries wishing her mother were there to hold her. 

She does not sleep well until Zuko comes back to the palace after Ba Sing Se and she knows she has made herself safe by making her brother her shield.


	4. blue flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> azula's first blue flames

“Hey Azula,” Zuko says quietly one night on the ship home.

“Hmmmm?”

“When did you start bending blue flames?” he asks.

Azula remembers the first time her fire turned blue. “Shortly after you were banished...two months or so. It was after you sent your first letter to us.”

“How’d you do it?”

“Stop using contractions. Your speech needs to get back to a caliber fitting of the high court before we arrive home. You sound like a sailor.”

“You did not answer my question.”

“Father taught me.”

“But Father can’t bend blue flames.”

“Contractions, dum dum.”

Zuko huffs. “But Father cannot band blue flames,” he says stressing the separation between his words.

_“I am not satisfied with your progress, Azula. Because of this, I will be seeing over your lessons. Now cross the courtyard and take a fighting stance.”_

_Ozai is a cruel opponent. She is barely even across the courtyard before he starts hurling infernos on her. Azula is talented, and she knows that her father always prefers to be on the offensive. She avoids the flames though with a few close calls and she feels the sting of their heat licking at her skin._

  
“It is not so much that the teacher has to be able to produce blue fire. They just have to help you get to a place where you can,” she explains, gaze fixed on the expanse of waves in front of them.

“What?”

She huffs. “Honestly Zuko, what did Uncle teach you about bending while you were gone?” She turns to face him. “Fire bending comes from your inner self, you have to channel all of your being, your power, and your emotions into bending.”

“I know that, but what does it have to do with blue fire?”

_One of her father’s fireballs grazes her shoulder as she tries to move out of the way of another. She loses her balance and trips, which her father takes to his advantage. While she is on her knees, Ozai sends a massive wall of fire towards her._

  
_She feels it before she sees it. She does not think as she puts her hands in front of her hoping to defend herself. She has never been so scared in her life. She closes her eyes and screams. This was it, this was when she was no better than her brother. But the heat does not touch her. Rather, a fire hotter than she has ever felt comes from her palms. Her father’s fire never touches her.When she opens her eyes, the courtyard is clear. Her father stands a few yards away, a satisfied smirk on his face._

  
_“Now that, dear Azula, is the progress I was hoping to see.”_

  
_“What did I do?” A tear rolls down her cheek_

  
_“Blue flames, Azula. The most powerful kind of fire bending before lightning. Get up.” She pushes herself up to stand as he continues. “We will have to continue with this high pressure training until we figure out a way of how you can produce the blue flame on command.” He puts a hand on her shoulder. “You are going to be the best fire bender in the world, Azula. Perhaps the best in history.”_

  
_“Really?” she asks. Her voice cracks and she has to wipe another tear off her cheek with the back of an ash covered hand, but she smiles through it._   
_“If you keep up this good work, I am sure of it. Crown Princess Azula, Master of the Blue Flame at only 11 years old. Sounds like a good line in the history scrolls does it not?”_

  
_“It does,” she agrees._

  
_“Now, go clean up,” he says. She bows and then heads towards the direction of her rooms. As she walks off he calls her name, and she turns back to face him._

_“No tears next time. Zuko cried in his fight and look at where it got him.”_

_“Yes, Father.” She wants to kick something, her first time making blue flames and it still was not good enough. She bows again and runs off before Ozai can see more tears welling in her eyes._

“You would not understand,” she sighs. She walks away and leaves him on the deck under the moonlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been writing so much Azula! I just love writing for her! She's so complex, and there is just soooooo much to unpack with her character. Honestly, Azula redemption arcs are among the heights of feminist literature. 
> 
> Next chapter is going back post-war with Izumi's 17th birthday and some messy things that happen.


	5. izumi's birthday pt 1: bad memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As guests arrive at the palace for her 17th birthday celebrations, Izumi overhears a conversation that makes her worry about her future.

Izumi was never particularly excited to celebrate her birthday. It was a day of mixed emotions knowing that while her family celebrated her coming into this world, they were reminded of the sharp pang of losing her mother on that day as well. Nonetheless, her grandfather Iroh had insisted on throwing a party to celebrate her 17th birthday. Nobles from the outlying islands, diplomats from the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, and of course her father’s friends and their families who were essentially her extended family. The palace, usually quiet and peaceful (as she and her father preferred) was bustling with guests. Her father had been so busy greeting guests and addressing some Republic City business with Sokka and Aang that she had barely seen him that day. So, she decided to take a walk to his office after she knew he had finished meeting with Sokka and Avatar Aang. 

As she walked down the hallway, she overheard two of the noblewomen, a governor’s wife and her daughter, visiting for her birthday festivities talking with each other in the portrait gallery. 

“I just hope she won’t be like her forefathers, with the Fire Lady curse,” the mother says. 

“Fire Lady curse?” the daughter questions. 

“Haven’t you noticed, dear, that all of the Fire Ladies who gave birth to bad Fire Lords have died in childbirth,” the mother answers. “Fire Lord Sozin’s mother died when he was born, as did Azulon’s. Lady Ilah died when she gave birth to Ozai. General Iroh’s wife died when Prince Lu Ten came. Princess Ursa barely made it through Princess Azula’s birth, and of course you know that Lady Mai died when the Crown Princess was born.” 

“It seems the spirits had it out for the Fire Ladies that brought bad men into the world,” the daughter replies. 

“Indeed,” the mother says “For our sake, let’s pray it’s not an omen about our next Fire Lord.” 

Izumi’s breath hitches. The mother turns and sees her. Izumi recognizes her as Lady Niko and her daughter Ichika. 

“Your highness, I hope you are well,” Lady Niko says with a bow. Izumi clenches her fists. _What an asshole_ she thinks to herself.

“Good evening,” she says bitterly. 

“We were just off to retire,” Lady Niko states. If she has any suspicion that Izumi overheard their conversation, she does not show it. Izumi says nothing. “Well, good evening then.” The women bow again before walking down the hallway. 

Izumi is left alone in the portrait gallery. Her father had the portraits of the imperial Fire Lords removed long ago, before she was born. Instead, they were replaced with paintings of more favorable parts of Fire Nation history. There was one of Avatar Roku, one of her grandfather taking back Ba Sing Se, of her father redirecting lightning, and most recently of her Aunt Azula discovering the true nature of fire and being gifted a dragon egg. Even still, there were not enough new paintings to replace the old, and black curtains hung in their place. 

Izumi finds herself reaching out to touch the heavy dark fabric and remembers the first time asking about them when she was maybe 8 years old.

_"Why are there dark curtains on the walls in the portrait gallery?” Izumi had asked at dinner_

_“There used to be paintings there, but I had them taken down,” Zuko explained._

_“Why were they taken down?” Izumi asked._

_“They were of bad men, and I did not want them on display,” Zuko explained. “I didn’t need the reminder of their poor examples. And I did not need them setting an example for you to aspire to,” he answered._

_“Well, I will not be bad. Girls are not bad like boys are,” Izumi said cheerfully._

_“Girls can be bad, Izumi,” Azula says._

_“But I’m a girl and I’m not bad. And so are Aunt Kiyi, and Aunt Katara. They are all very nice,” Izumi states, somewhat defensively. “You are not bad.”_

_“I used to be bad, very bad,” Azula responds._

_Zuko looks at her across the table. “You don’t have to now-”_

_“She’s going to have to know sooner or later” Azula cuts him off. Azula didn’t talk much about her past, and for Izumi, Azula had always been one to chastise her for being mean. Izumi could not imagine Azula as anything other her stern and wise aunt._

_Azula and Zuko are having a conversation with just looks, like only people with secrets can. Izumi looks between the two of them. “Know what?”_

_“Izumi, I know we have not taught you much about the war yet, but during the war, I was a bad person,” Azula starts. “I hunted down your father and grandfather to try to bring them back to the Fire Nation as prisoners, I chased Bumi and Kya’s mom and dad, Sokka, and Toph across the earth kingdom, I burned Uncle, I put Suki in prison, I tried to drill a whole in the walls of Ba Sing Se, then I actually took over Ba Sing Se, I killed the Avatar, well briefly, I had your mom and Ty Lee locked in the Boiling Rock, and then when my dad tried to take over the world and told me I could be Fire Lord, I tried to kill Zuko and your Aunt Katara when they tried to stop me. Even before the war, I was never nice,” Azula finishes. She sighs “Don’t believe anything is the way it is about you because you’re a girl, Izumi. Anyone is capable of destruction.”_

_Izumi is quiet. She looks at her aunt, her fire bending teacher, her fiercest protector, the woman who walks her home from school every day, who brushes her hair every morning, who tucks her in at night when her dad has too much paperwork to do, who is the closet thing this motherless child has to a mother. She cannot reconcile Azula’s confession._

_“Dad is that true?” Izumi asks._

_“Izumi, where else would he have gotten the scar on his chest? That was from when I tried to kill him,” Azula responds before Zuko can._

_Izumi does not want to believe these things about Azula. “Well, if you were so bad, then how did the family pass the People’s Approval every year?”_

_“We did not have People’s Approval before me. That was something I created,” Zuko explains._

_“So there used to just be uncontrollably bad Fire Lords and Fire Families?”_

_“Yes” Azula and Zuko say in unison._

_“But we’re different, we learned from their misdeeds,” Zuko finishes._ Izumi pulls her hand back from dark velvet. A door opening down the hall pulls her from her thoughts, and she starts towards her father’s office. As she walks down the hallway, she cannot shake the thought that she might be predestined for destruction. 

“Is he with anyone?” She asks the guard at the door when she arrives. 

“No, your highness. Master Katara, Councilman Sokka, and Avatar Aang just left. Would you like me to announce you?” 

“Thank you, but no need. It’s just me,” she tells him. 

“Of course, your highness,” he says with a polite nod.

When she walks in her father is staring, with a wistful but melancholic look, at a small ink portrait of himself and Mai that was commissioned shortly after they were married. Her entrance pulls him from whatever thought or memory he was lost in. The thought of him sitting in here alone and thinking of her mother only augments her anger and unease, and it quickly settles in her as sadness. 

“Hey, turtleduck,” he says softly and with a smile when he sees her. 

“Hi,” she replies, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“Sorry, I missed dinner. Sokka, Aang, and I were working on something. And then Katara came in here to tell us off for working too late.” 

“That’s ok,” she says, trying to cover the sadness in her tone but Zuko notices. 

“What’s wrong, turtleduck?” he says walking over to her. 

“I’m almost 17, don’t you think I’m a little old for that?” 

“I don’t care how old you are, you’ll always be my little turtleduck.” 

Izumi smiles softly. Zuko was sweet father. “You were looking at that painting of mom when I walked in.” 

“I was, yes.” He pauses, "I was thinking about what I would tell her about you if I could.” 

“What would you tell her?” a few tears well up in Izumi’s eyes, and she tries hard to keep them in. 

“Well, I think she’d be happy to know you look just like her,” he starts. “And that you like to read and learn, and there’s nothing that you can’t teach yourself how to do. She’d be amazed that you can make your Aunt Azula laugh. And,” he says tipping her chin up so that she has to look into his eyes, “she’d want me to tell you that you could confide in your father with anything just like she did.” 

“I don’t want to celebrate my birthday,” she whispers. A tear rolls down her cheek, and Zuko wipes it away. 

“Why not?” 

“It makes me feel guilty,” she barely manages to get out. She leans forward, and Zuko pulls her into an embrace. 

“Zumi, sweetheart, we’ve talked about this. You have nothing to feel guilty about.” 

“What if I just haven’t done the thing I’ll feel guilty about yet?” she strains. 

“What’s that supposed to mean, Zumi?” 

She doesn’t want to talk about what the noblewomen were discussing in the portrait gallery, and she diverts from her last question. 

“I took your wife from you. You’ve been lonely for a long time because I came into the world.” 

He holds her tighter against him. “That’s not true, Izumi,” he says firmly. 

“Yes, it is.” 

“Sit down, Izumi.” He guides her to the red and gold couch in his office and kneels in front of her. He takes one of her hands in her lap between his own, her gaze fixed downwards. 

“Look at me,” he says softly. 

She swallows and looks up, a tear rolls down her cheek. 

“It has been, and still is, the greatest privilege of my life to be your father. The first time I ever saw you, I didn’t think I could ever love anyone more. I would have rather died than see you get hurt.” He pauses and wipes a tear off his cheek with his sleeve, and then does the same for Izumi. “And you’re right, I am lonely sometimes, but it’s not your fault, Izumi. In fact, when I see you smile or do something that brings you joy, I wonder how I could ever have wanted anything else. So don’t you ever think that you took anything away from me because you are the greatest joy of my life.” 

She cannot stop the tears at his admission. She wraps her arms around his neck and he hugs her tightly to him. He doesn’t seem to mind that his robes are getting wet from her tears. _Let’s pray it’s not an omen about our next Fire Lord_ plays again in her mind, and now with her father’s words, she only cries harder. He had so much faith in her, and she hadn’t proven anything yet about her ability to lead. 

A few minutes later when she had stopped crying, Zuko loosens his embrace. 

“I hate when my little girl is upset. You know Azula used to laugh at me because I’d cry when you got hurt or when you were sick. Then one time while I was in a meeting and Azula interrupted it clearly distraught because she found out someone had picked on you at school and she wanted the swiftest punishment imaginable, and I told her, 'now you know how it feels.'” 

Izumi lets out a little laugh against his robes. 

“Thanks, Dad.” 

“Want me to make some tea?”

“You’re turning into grandfather,” she quips, pulling out of the hug. 

“I’d consider that a very nice compliment, Zumi,” Zuko jokes. 

A short while later they are in the kitchens, each with a cup of tea in hand, but a darkness still sits heavy in Izumi’s heart. She knows she won’t be able to shake it off anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love soft Dadko and protective Aunt Azula. I think it’s cool to explore Izumi’s understanding of her family and their past, especially in a way that it mixes with her own insecurities and fears. Next chapter, we get Bumi (who is actually of my favorite of the Gaang Kids, even though I tend to harp on Izumi.)


	6. izumi's birthday pt 2: chosen legacies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bumi and Izumi have a conversation that goes very poorly...

Despite being a firebender, Izumi loved the nighttime. When she was little her grandfather told her stories about how a Water Tribe princess became the moon to save her people. She liked to think that she would do the same if the people of the Fire Nation needed someone to save the sun. On clear nights when the moon was full, she felt as though the moon was reaching out especially to her, maybe a bond between princesses. Her grandfather had chuckled when she mentioned that to him, “I think the moon princess would like you very much, my dear Izumi,” he had replied. 

So it was no surprise to Bumi when on a clear night with a full moon that he would find his best friend on the rooftop in the secret spot above the royal library they had found two summers ago reading a scroll with the light of a small flame coming from her fingertip and a cup of tea steaming beside her.

“Zumi-"

“Oh Agni! Bumi you scared me,” Izumi says, nearly knocking over her tea. 

“Sorry,” he says trying to cover a laugh. “May I?” 

“Of course, come,” she says patting the empty spot next to her. “What are you doing up?” 

“Mom and Kya are running around like maniacs with the full moon,” he replies. “They were making so much noise I couldn’t sleep. I’m sure half the palace is awake with them in at the garden pond making splashes. Thought I try my luck and see if you were up here.” He takes a seat next to her. “What are you reading?”

She shows him the scroll. “History of the Early Fire Lords,” she says. 

“Any good?” Bumi asks. 

“Yes, actually. The Fire Nation islands used to all be separate and constantly fighting each other and then a warrior from one of the outlying islands united them,” she answers. “He got them to stop fighting for resources by setting up trade among the islands and making them economically interdependent on each other. It then allowed the islands to specialize production of certain crops or materials.” 

“Smart guy,” Bumi says approvingly. Izumi does not say anything in reply, and a silence falls between them. 

“You’re never this quiet,” Izumi says after a moment. “Everything ok?” 

Bumi leans back with a sigh and lays down with his hands behind his head. Izumi rolls up her scroll and turns to face him. “Bumi, what’s wrong?” 

“I applied to the Military Academy of the United Forces,” he says eyes fixed on the sky above him. “And I got in...You’re the first person I’ve told.” 

“Bumi that’s great!” Izumi replies but she couldn’t quite cover the hesitancy in her voice. 

“You have a question, just ask it,” he states. 

“Well you’ve never mentioned even thinking about applying before,” she replies. “And you don’t really seem excited about it…So I can’t help but wonder what brought this about?”

Bumi sighs and sits back up next to Izumi. “Remember when I won the United Republic sword fighting championship last year?” 

“Of course, how could I forget? You almost fell off the ring but were hanging on by two fingers and then you got yourself back up and won!” 

“Exactly.” 

“I don’t follow.” 

“My dad forgot that I won,” he says a little bitterly. “He asked me what the trophy in my room was for, and I just got so mad. Honestly I was so angry, I don’t even remember what I said, but things have been bad between us for a few months now. And my mom, she’s just pretending like nothing is wrong.” 

“Bumi,” she puts a had on his shoulder comfortingly. Bumi leans into it and puts his head on her shoulder, and Izumi lets her arm fall to hold him in a sideways hug. 

“I just don’t understand why everything has to be about Tenzin all the time. I’m half air nomad too. And I know I can’t bend - .” He lets the sentence fall. 

“So you thought the Military Academy would be a better place to showcase your talents,” she affirms. 

“Yea, something like that.” 

Silence falls between them again. Izumi feels like the moon is so close that she could be listening in on their conversation. “Sometimes I just get so jealous, and it makes me feel terrible because he’s so much younger than me. I love him to death, and I'd do anything for him, but I’m smart and talented too! It’s like no one wants me in their culture because I don’t bend so I can’t possibly fit,” he says. “No one sees me.” 

“I see you,” she offers 

“Yea but you’re my best friend so you chose to. My parents though, they should definitely be the people who don’t have a choice. But its like 75% of their attention is on Tenzin, 20% on Kya, and then maybe 5% on me. I’m about to graduate top of my class, and yet no one can get over how Tenzin learned how to make two air-scooters at once,” he says defeatedly. “It’s so lonely.”

At that, she looks at him. His lips quiver, and his brow is furrowed. “I’m sorry, Bumi.” 

“It’s nothing to apologize for,” he says. 

“For what it’s worth, sometimes I wish we could trade places,” she says. 

He tenses and narrows his eyes at her. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Well-"

“You want to live where no one gives a shit about you?” he asks, anger creeping into his tone. 

“That’s not-”

“You couldn’t live in anonymity for a day, Izumi. You’re a princess, there’s a whole country of people who care about who you are and what you’re doing.” 

That comment makes her blood boil. “And you have no idea what it's like to live under that much pressure all the time. At least you don’t have a legacy to inherit!” she says bitingly. 

Disappointment washes across Bumi’s features, and Izumi immediately regrets what she said. 

“Of all people, I thought you would at least try to understand,” he replies, barely above a whisper. He starts to get up and Izumi tries to grab his shoulder to stop him, but he shrugs it off. He pushes himself up before she can stop him again and starts back towards the roof entrance. 

“Bumi- wait,” Izumi says, now also standing. 

“I am so tired of giving people I love so many second chances,” he says over his shoulder. 

“Wait,” she tries again, but Bumi does not stop, and he disappears through the secret entrance back down into the library. 

Izumi lets out an angry sigh and covers her face with her hands. You, idiot! She thinks to herself. Frustrated, she throws a fire ball off the roof and watches it dissipate as it falls towards the courtyard below. 

*********************************************************************************************  
Bumi is walking alone through the library when he hears a gust of air above him. He looks up around and almost misses his little brother on an air scooter, high above the rows of shelves as Tenzin tries to hide. 

Bumi sighs. “Tenzin, I know you’re there. Come out.” Tenzin sheepishly lands next to Bumi, head hanging low.

“Were you following me?” 

“I wanted to see where you were going,” Tenzin whispers. “Are you mad at me?” he asks. 

With that Bumi knows Tenzin heard his conversation and fight with Izumi. Bumi pulls on his lip, taking a second before replying and thinking about how this could get any worse. “No, bud.” 

Tenzin looks up at that. “Are you mad at Dad?” 

“Yea,” Bumi says. “But that’s nothing for you to worry about.” He leans down so he is eye level with Tenzin.

“Are you mad at Princess Izumi?” Tenzin asks looking intently at his big brother.

Bumi chuckles a bit at Tenzin’s use of her title. He really was a serious little 10 year old. “Yea, I am, but again, nothing for you to worry about,” he says. “Come on, hop on my back, I’ll give you a ride back to our rooms. It’s way passed your bedtime.” 

Tenzin smiles and climbs onto his big brother’s back, holding on tight to his shoulders, and Bumi starts back towards their rooms in the guest wing of the palace. 

“Bumi?” Tenzin asks as they exit the library. “Are you really going to leave for the military academy?” 

“Spirits Tenzin, did anyone ever teach you anything about privacy?” Bumi mutters. “But yes, I think I am.” 

“I’ll miss you,” Tenzin says, holding on to Bumi a little tighter. 

Bumi adjusts Tenzin since he had slipped down his back a bit while they walked along the hallway. 

"I’ll miss you too, bud.” 

Tenzin rests his head on Bumi’s shoulder. Tenzin cannot see the single tear that rolls down Bumi’s cheek, but he feels it land on his finger. He nuzzles deeper into his brother’s shoulder, and it is silent between them the rest of the walk back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Bumi. Watching LOK and seeing how he and Kya got pushed aside because they weren't airbenders makes me sad. I know Kya didn't have it easy either, but I feel like for Bumi since he wasn't a bender in a family of powerful benders, it must have been especially hard for him. 
> 
> I wanted to do Izumi's birthday in three parts, but it might be longer because I have some ideas for interactions between the adults that I want to get out as well!


	7. izumi's birthday pt 3: sources of wisdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> breakfast on the morning of Izumi's 17th birthday goes terribly.

The next morning, breakfast with the family is awkward. Izumi was a few moments late, having had to stop by the royal seamstress to have the last adjustments fitted for party outfit finished. By the time she arrived at breakfast, everyone was seated, and the only empty chair was between her father and Bumi. Bumi’s stony expression made her want to just be swallowed up by the floor. Maybe she could go find Druk and convince him to eat her. She gives Bumi a sad smile, and he rolls his eyes with a noticeable exhale. Izumi takes her seat quietly trying her hardest to give him as much space as possible. 

“Are we going to talk about how Izumi and Bumi are making the air in the room extremely uncomfortable?” Kya says. “Lover’s quarrel?” she jokes. 

“Fuck off, Kya” Bumi mutters, looking down at the table in front of him. Kya is across from him and leans in trying to get his attention. 

“Excuse me?” she says with a joking lilt in her voice. 

Bumi doesn’t say anything. Instead, he throws his tea at Kya and storms out of the dining room. Everyone is silent but all eyes are on Izumi. Having managed to stop the tea from hitting her, Kya bends it back into a cup. 

“Well, Happy Birthday, Izumi! What an exciting way to start the day,” Kya deadpans. Zuko looks at Izumi with a concerned expression. Azula looks ready to go to murder. Toph and Lin have their eyebrows raised and are taking a big sips of their mango juices. Tenzin hangs his head and focuses intently at his rice. Izumi notices Katara giving Aang a look that says _go after him_ and when he doesn’t move she shakes her head. 

“This looks like a job for a wise old man like me,” Iroh says, pushing his chair back so that he can stand up. 

“General Iroh, it’s really ok, Aang can take care of it,” Katara says. 

“Uh, I kinda agree with General Iroh,” Aang replies sheepishly. 

If looks could kill, the ice in Katara’s eyes would have Aang pinned to the wall. “You are unbelievable,” she says quietly, though the anger and disappointment in her tone are unmistakable. She follows Bumi out the door 

“Looks like Twinkletoes is in the polar bear doghouse,” Toph says. Aang groans and then goes after Katara and Bumi.

“Care to enlighten us, Izumi?” Azula asks. 

“Not really,” she mutters. “I’m going to the training yard,” she announces quietly, and she walks out the door. 

Azula looks between Zuko and Iroh “I would go after her, but I was planning to go boss some staff around to make sure her party is perfect, which I think now needs to be even more perfect,” she says. 

“I will see what is bothering our dear Izumi,” Iroh says pushing out his chair once again. He and Azula leave the room. 

“Man,” Lin says “I thought mom and I would be the ones to start drama.” At that, Sokka laughs so hard he snorts, and Suki punches him in the side for it. ————————————————————————————————— 

Izumi is moving through advanced katas when Iroh finds her.

“I have told you before, forms practiced in anger are like tea steeped in unclean water, dear Izumi.” 

She finishes the form sending an arc of a flame towards the stone wall with an audibly annoyed exhale. 

“Now, are you going to tell me what is wrong or should I guess? Kya suggested a -” 

“IM NOT DATING BUMI! CAN EVERYONE STOP THINKING THAT!” 

Iroh chuckles. “Everyone used to think the same of your father and Katara when they were yours and Bumi’s ages. When people share a special bond others cannot help but wonder. But of course I did not come here to talk about your father’s youthful affections. It appears you and Bumi are experiencing a strain. Care to inform your old grandfather so he can help you?” 

“We had a misunderstanding.” 

“I know that I am old, Izumi, but I am not blind.” 

“Bumi was telling me about some issues in their family between him and his dad, and I basically told him that he should be lucky not to have the weight of a legacy on his shoulders.” 

“So your problem stems from your fear of your future,” Iroh affirms. “Rightfully so on an occasion as momentous as your 17th birthday, but Izumi, you are a kind, gentle, and fair minded young woman, and your father is a picture of health, what has brought about this anxiety?” 

Izumi crosses her arms and says nothing. 

“Izumi?” 

“I overheard some of the noblewomen talking about a curse on the Fire Ladies.” 

“And what is this curse?” 

“That Fire Ladies who die in childbirth give rise to evil Fire Lords. The spirits make them pay the ultimate price for what they bring into the world.”

Iroh takes in her words. “And so you have applied this to your own birth?” Izumi nods.

“You’re young yet Izumi, but I think you will find that destiny is what you make of it,” he says. “You and your father are the descendants of Sozin and Azulon, but you’re also the descendants of Avatar Roku on your grandmother’s side. There’s light and dark in you, and you will have to chose what nature you will allow to flourish. But knowing you, I would largely place my bets on the light side. And,” he takes a pause, “you can always seek to redeem yourself for your faults. I tried to break through the walls of Ba Sing Se, and then I took it back from the Fire Nation. Your father chased Aang halfway across the world, and now they are best friends. Azula was one of the most terrifying people in existence -” 

“She still is.” 

He chuckles. “Yes, she still is. But the original fire bending masters deemed her worthy of regaining her power when she lost it and repented, and they even gifted her a dragon egg as they did to your father,” he explains. 

“Your father’s legacy was to end a war. Yours will be the equally important one of maintaining peace,” Iroh says. “Now, maybe you should go practice that and make your amends with Master Bumi. I am off to make some tea.” 

“What if he won’t speak to me,” she asks. 

“Well then your partner dance in front of the court later on at your party will be terribly uncomfortable!” he says walking back inside. ——————————————————————————————————— Bumi does not really know where he is walking to, and he just follows the direction that instinct takes him. He can hear his parents behind him, but he does not stop. 

“Bumi please,” Katara calls. 

He groans and walks faster. In this instance, he was incredibly pleased with himself because he still remembers some of the secret passageways in the palace that Izumi had showed him as children when they would play hide and explode with Izumi’s Aunt Kiyi and Aunt Azula, so he ducked into one that he knew was coming and hears his parents run right passed. It was slightly dark inside, which made perfect sense considering that usually only firebenders used these hallways and had no need for any other light. 

Bumi went off memory and kept his right hand on the wall. If he had to figure this out like a maze in order to get out, that’s what he would do. After about ten minutes in the dark, he feels a variation in the stone that tells him he’s found a door. If he remembers correctly, this one will let him out by the portrait gallery. However, when he opens the door, he’s stopped by a piece of furniture. 

“Huh?” he hears someone ask, and soon the furniture is being shoved out of the way and the door opens and bright light blinds him, and Azula is standing in front of him.

She stares him up and down. “I would offer to help you but I will warn you first that if you ruin Izumi’s birthday, not even the fact that your father is the Avatar will save you from me.” 

Bumi remains frozen, unsure what to do. 

“Well don’t just sit there,” she says, raising a brow. He stumbles into what he realizes to be Azula’s office. 

“If you are avoiding your parents who ran after you when you caused quite the commotion at breakfast, then my office would definitely be the best place to hide. Push that back into place,” she commands gesturing to the small table she had just moved. 

Bumi has not spent much time alone with Azula. Whenever he would visit the Fire Nation, he and Izumi were attached at the hip. Every summer when Kya would go to the Southern Water Tribe and his dad and Tenzin would go to an Air Temple, Bumi would get dropped off in the Fire Nation for a few months of sword training with Master Piandao. After Piandao passed away, Zuko offered to continue training him since Sokka was busy trying to get Republic City up and running. In all that time, he’d never really gotten to know Azula. From what Izumi had told him, Azula was Zuko’s right hand. She lead his small council and sat in on meetings when he was away on diplomatic trips, which made her an extremely powerful person. 

He looks around her office. It’s clean and tidy. There is a small ink portrait of Izumi on the wall to the right of Azula's desk, and vases of Fire Lilies around the room. 

Azula studies him while he looks around the room. “Should I ask what’s bothering you or should we pretend this exchange never happened?”

“Whatever you prefer,” he replies. 

“I prefer to be well informed.” 

“Izumi and I had a fight.” 

“I gleaned that,” she says flatly. There’s a pause. “Izumi hates celebrating her birthday. She tells us every year it makes her feel guilty, but the 17th birthday of the Heir Apparent is a rite of passage in the Fire Nation.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“Traditionally, it’s when the Crown Prince, or in Izumi’s case, Princess, starts sitting on the small council and has to take up a stronger political role than just kissing babies and doing well in school… it’s seen as the last day of childhood.” 

_Oh_ Bumi thinks. “That’s why she’s so stressed.” 

“Most likely a factor.” 

“She never mentioned it.” 

“Well, you know Izumi. Unless it’s Zuko, getting her to tell you what’s wrong is like pulling teeth. She is like you in that regard.” Bumi looks puzzled. “I read people very well,” she says in reply to his reaction. There’s a pause as she regards him. “I do not imagine it is easy to be a non-bender in a family like yours.” 

“Man, you really don’t hold back.” 

She offers him a half smile. “I understand the fear of being a disappointment too. When I was 12 I was so scared of failure and what would happen if I disappointed my father. It was not even two years by the time I self destructed.” 

“I’m not going to self destruct,” he mutters. 

“Then you might need some help carrying that weight on your shoulders around.” 

He is quiet for a minute. “What if there’s no one to help me?” 

She glances down at a small ink drawing of her mother, Zuko, and herself that sits on her desk. “From my experience, you can often find help in very unexpected places, but you have to be open to being helped.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you cannot convince me Azula didn’t get a redemption arc and a lot of healing and become a strange source of wisdom. you just can’t. azula redemptions are a peak of feminist literature. 
> 
> I imagine redeemed Azula serves Zuko in a position similar to the hand of the king from GoT.


	8. izumi's birthday pt 4: getting better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it’s taken me so long to get a chapter out. law school is hard and time consuming. I’m about to enter exam study time and research season so I definitely will not have another chapter out until after Thanksgiving. Thank you to everyone who reads. You have no idea how happy your comments make me, especially after a long study session.

When they had made another complete trip around the the palace and were unsuccessful at finding Bumi, Aang and Katara returned to their room. When the door closes behind her, Katara turns on Aang.

“I kept telling you to take care of this,” she says coldly.

“You’re going to make this my fault? He had a fight with Izumi. Why is it my fault?”

“He and Izumi get along beautifully. I’ve been telling you for two months that you needed to talk with him, and now that hurt he feels is affecting his other relationships!!”

“Bumi wasn’t open to it, and you weren’t backing me up!”

“Backing you up? Are you kidding me?” she asks incredulously. “Who stayed at home alone with our kids while you went on missions or days long trips into the Spirit World or taught Air Acolytes how to meditate? Who was there beside you when you tried to bring back a culture from the brink of extinction? I have always backed you up,” she says pointing a finger at him. “And it hasn’t even always been you! When Mai died and Izumi was really sick, I came here with little Bumi to take care of her and Zuko, and Bumi on top of them. When Kanto left Toph when she got pregnant, it was me who helped her get everything ready for Lin. I have always put down everything and helped when people need me! Spirits, I even gave up becoming chief for you! I am not going to sit here and let you tell me that I don’t have your back, because I always have. But, you can’t run away from this or he will end up resenting you for the rest of his life,” she says furiously. She’s almost yelling at him, but then she stops and a tear rolls down her cheek. She looks defeated and disappointed. “I know you’re the Avatar, but you promised me we’d be in this together. I can do a lot, but I can’t do everything.”

Katara looks at him with anger and hurt in her eyes. The way she stands with her clenched reminds him of when she was 18 and he was 16, and she broke up with him for awhile . Right after their break up, her father asked her to go to the Fire Nation for some diplomacy work. Aang had been miserable. To try to help him feel better, Sokka and Suki invited him to visit Toph’s metal bending school, and Suki had given him some of the best advice of his life...

_“I’m pretty sure Toph could will herself to bend the other three elements if she tried hard enough,” Suki says they watched Toph work with her metal bending students._

_“_ _Don’t give her any ideas,” Aang says, “then I’d be out of the one thing I’m good for.”_

  
_“Was it that bad?” Suki asks. Of course Aang knew exactly what she was referring to._

  
_Aang sighs. “She said I don’t support her. That I expect her to give up everything for me, and that I don’t see her.”_

  
_“Hmmm, that must have been hard to hear,” Suki says empathetically._

  
_“She said, ‘you are in love with the idea of me” I mean, what am I supposed to say to that? Of course I am, she’s perfect!” Aang takes a deep breath. “And then she conveniently gets appointed Ambassador to the Fire Nation so she gets so busy there, and she can do so many things she wants to do…and she can do them because she’s not with me. I don’t want her to think our relationship was a waste of time.”_

_Suki offers him a sad smile. “She would never. She adores you, Aang. But even when two people love each other dearly, it doesn’t mean they are good partners for each other.”_

  
_“Are you saying I was a bad boyfriend?” he says._

  
_“No, and don’t put words in my mouth,” Suki says. “Some people just aren’t always good partners for each other. Like, look at Zuko and Mai. They adore each other. But Mai didn’t want to_ _be with someone who couldn’t take care of himself, and she told Zuko that. So she left for a while so that he could get his bearings and figure what he needed to do to be a good Fire Lord and a good boyfriend.”_

  
_“So…I was a bad boyfriend?” Aang asks again._

  
_“No Aang, you just weren’t what she needed right now, and it’s no fault of your own unless you honestly did not try,” Suki says. She puts a hand on his shoulder in an empathetic gesture. “You have to stop thinking like you were a failure. You’ve learned how to be a better friend to her. And, you can be mindful of this lesson in your next relationship.”_

  
_“But what’s it matter if we’re not together?”_

  
_“Aang, come on. If the only thing that mattered was that you were ‘together’ then that’s not enough,” Suki says._

  
_“So what, if Sokka decided you weren’t good together you’d be fine if he left you?”_

  
_“Of course I wouldn’t be fine, but that’s why I work hard every day to make sure he feels loved. I let him know that he matters, and not just to me, and that he can mess something up and I’ll be there to help him fix it. And if what I give him doesn’t satisfy what he needs out of a partner, I would rather him leave and find someone who will make him happy than him stay with me. I would feel bad because I can’t be enough for him. It would be a vicious cycle, and we’d just end up resenting each other.”_

  
_Something about her statement clicks for Aang. “So it was better to just cut the losses,” he says. “And that way we can still be friends.”_

  
_“I think you’re catching on,” Suki smiles. “Plus, you never know what will happen in the future. Maybe in a few years, you’ll be exactly what she needs, and she’ll be exactly what you need. Not that it wouldn’t be hard work, but maybe you’ll be good partners in the future.”_

_“Thank you, Suki. This really helped,” Aang says._

  
_“Anything for you, kid. Come on, let’s go find Sokka, I’m starving.”_

_Aang smiles, Suki is exactly what Sokka needed._

_"Its no fault of your own unless you didn’t try.”_

“I’ll find him. I’ll make this better. I promise,” he says walking towards her. She lets him wrap his arms around her and hold her to him. He presses a kiss to her temple. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispers. Her gaze follows him until the door closes behind him, and for the first time in a long time, it isn’t a sight that makes her angry.

———————————————————————————————————

“Alright, now I do have work to do, so unless you plan on helping me, I am going to have to ask you to leave. I have to take care of a few things before I go to the insufferable ladies luncheon that gets put on every year for Izumi’s birthday.”

“I could assist you,” Bumi offers. “What do you have to do?”

“Security,” she answers. “Having guests in the palace puts Zuko and Izumi in a bit more of a precarious situation than I prefer.”

“Why is someone trying to kill them or something?” Bumi asks.

“Nothing has happened in a while but that’s because I am diligent.” She gets up from her desk. “Come along, I hear you’re quite the strategic mind yourself, you can help me solve the last problem I have to figure out.” Azula moved to lock the door to her office, at which Bumi raises his brow quizzically.

“Tunnels,” she explains. “I don’t like being stopped in the hallways.” Bumi moves the piece of furniture that blocked his original entrance and follows Azula.

When the stone door closes behind them, Azula lights her palm. Bumi had seen Azula’s fire before on trips to the Fire Nation, but he had never seen it so up close. It was so many different colors, almost like stained glass.

“It’s called Dragon Fire,” Azula says. “When I was a teenager I could bend blue flames. I came to find out, fire benders are not supposed to bend fire that hot without special training. As a result, I lost my bending. It took a lot of healing, but when I was ready, my brother took me to the fire bending masters, and they taught me how to bend again, and then I was able to make these colorful dragon fire flames.”

“How did you lose your bending?” he asks. The only way he knew for people to lose their bending was his father’s avatar powers.

“Turns out, fire benders can quite literally burn themselves out.”

“That’s the self destruction you were talking about?”

“Very perceptive, Master Bumi,” she says. “Ahh, here we are.” Azula pushes on the stone and lets Bumi pass through the secret doorway before she exits herself. Bumi realizes they are close to the courtyard and festival space where Izumi’s party would later be held. Azula leads him into the center of the courtyard. He quickly does a turn around the scan the area. It’s bustling with staff who are setting up the tables and lanterns for the evening festivities.

“Guards are posted there, there, there, and there,”Azula says pointing to the four different locations. It’s a post at the main entrance, one at the back entrance, and one at each side entrance.

“What about the galleries?” Bumi asks immediately.

Azula smirks, “Smart, but that’s where I watch so that’s covered. No guests will be permitted up there without the Fire Lord’s approval.”

“Uncle Zuko will be on a dias, yes?”

“Yes with two Kyoshi warriors stationed there, and there,” she says pointing.

“Well it seems covered, especially with my dad, my mom, Aunt Toph, Uncle Sokka, and Aunt Suki all being here, so what’s the last issue you couldn’t work out?” Bumi asks.

“Poison” she answers. “Zuko and Izumi are fantastic fighters. I don’t have to worry as much about someone poisoning Zuko because he knows his safety protocol and he isn’t really one to socialize anyway, so it’s unlikely he will get something that has not passed through his layers of security.” She walks to the center of the courtyard, scanning the surroundings once again. “I know Izumi could take out a small army by herself because I trained her. And what she can’t do with fire bending, she can throw shuriken precisely enough to pin flies to a wall. When she’s in a fight, she’s almost undefeatable. So if anyone was trying to kill Izumi, they’d do it with poison. Since I’ll be spending most of the party of up there, I’ll have a dragon’s eye view of what happens on the courtyard grounds, but it will be difficult to keep track of everything.”

“Well if I am supposed to be Izumi’s special guest or whatever, why don’t I monitor on the ground? I’ll be on the ground and close to her the whole night. If I think something is suspicious, I’ll take Izumi’s cup or her food.”

“After you get in an argument with Izumi, the heir to the throne of the Fire Nation, you think that I would allow you to do poison control?” Azula asks, almost harshly.

Bumi looks shocked, “I’m upset with her but I’m not going to let someone hurt her!”

“You’re the son of two cultures against whom my people, whom my family represents, committed genocide and countless other atrocities. I’ve seen first hand the anger you hold since you have visited here so often, and I just saw you have an angry outburst at breakfast not even an hour ago, after you had an argument with her last night. Again, explain to me why I can trust you to protect Izumi.”

“I am not angry” Bumi whispers harshly, stressing every word. “I am not an angry person.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m not angry…I’m just…” he stops for a beat. “I’m just lonely,” he says, his voice trailing off.

“And was it Izumi that made you feel lonely?”

“Maybe,” he says crossing his arms and letting his gaze fall to the cobblestone ground.

“So again, explain to me why I can trust you with Izumi’s life.”

In the silence between her question and Bumi’s answer, Aang finds himself on the galleries lining the courtyard.

“I don’t know what to tell you besides that I would do whatever I had to for her, just like I would for Tenzin,” Bumi says. “And Kya. Whatever they need, I would do in a heartbeat,” he adds.

Azula gives him a look, silently urging him to continue. Recognizing his son’s voice, Aang listens over the railing, hoping Bumi and Azula will not notice him.

“Tenzin is just as much an heir as Izumi is,” Bumi continues. “Tenzin’s the only Airbender born in over a century. He has a legacy to inherit, and its an unspoken understanding for Kya and me that Tenzin always comes first. If there’s a life or death situation and Tenzin’s in danger, the ultimate priority is Tenzin’s safety. Maybe not as much as Tenzin and Izumi, but Kya’s an heir too. There aren’t many fully Southern waterbenders, so she’s under a lot of pressure.”

Aang’s shoulders drop. When did he ever tell his two oldest that they would have to give up everything for Tenzin? When did Bumi get the idea that he had to take on the mantle of a protector? Had he really made them think they were expendable? And when did Bumi and Azula get so close?

“It is safe to assume that Tenzin does not live under the same expectation?”

“...He’s ten…”

“I was raised by a war lord to be a super weapon child solider, and your dad became a fully realized avatar at 12. You and I do not have the same inherent understanding of the relationship between age and ability.”

“Umm then no, Tenzin doesn’t have the same expectation. But he’s little, it would be unfair to expect anything else from him.” Bumi explains confusedly.

Azula regards Bumi for a moment. She’s made him vulnerable, and he’s clearly uncomfortable airing his thoughts like this. However, he is still honest, and she admires that about him. “Is that the source of the loneliness?” Azula asks, her voice becoming a little softer.

“Spirits, is this therapy?” Bumi asks, exasperation obvious in his voice.

Azula laughs, genuinely. “Oh no, that’s worse,” she says jokingly, and Bumi chuckles. “At the end of firebender therapy you dance for your life in front of two monstrously sized dragons.”

“What is _wrong_ with the Fire Nation?”

At that, Azula laughs again. In the corner of her eye, she catches the swatch of yellow clothes up on the gallery. She and Aang make the briefest of eye contact before her gaze falls back to Bumi. Bumi glances to where she looked, and he catches the sad expression on Aang’s face.

“I have a luncheon to get to, but stop by my office again around 4 to go over the details of your position, hmm?”

“Sure thing,” he says without looking away from his dad.

“Remember what I said about being open to being helped. It’s hard to get better unless you are.”

Azula turns on her heel and leaves the courtyard.

———————————————————————————

Azula walks to Zuko’s office before going to find Izumi and Kiyi for the luncheon.

“I swear to Agni, if she ever hurts that boy’s feelings again, we’re sending her to stay with that wretched Earth Princess in Ba Sing Se for a month!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m pretty sure the Earth Queen from LOK and Izumi are around the same age. The Earth Queen sucks and I imagine she always did. Also sorry Izumi isn’t in this chapter. Her part didn’t really fit the theme of the chapter.
> 
> I originally thought this series would only be three chapters, but I think now it’s going to be eight or nine. Take care, stay safe, wear a mask!

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr @avatarstories. I don't post much there except for chapters from this collection, but come say hi!.


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